


Phoenix Wright: The Cat Lady

by CopaceticCrow



Category: The Cat Lady (Video Game), 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Alternate Universe - Nobody's a Lawyer, Depression, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:01:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22855900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CopaceticCrow/pseuds/CopaceticCrow
Summary: My name is Phoenix Wright. I live with my daughter in this old two-bedroom flat. I rarely go outside. Some would say it’s a lonely life, and I guess that’s true, but I don’t like most people’s company. Not lately, anyway. I only trust in Trucy and my cats these days, and I will miss them dearly.---Depressed, between jobs, and struggling to provide for Trucy, Phoenix feels like he's finally reached the end of the road. One fateful day, however, a strange woman in the woods grants him a second (and third, and fourth...) chance at fixing his life. For a price. All Phoenix has to do is eliminate five "parasites" that are dead set on killing him.Easy enough... right?Well, when the stakes are raised by alongtime crushchildhood friend returning from overseas in order to help him get his life back on track and a strong-willed daughter who strives to do the same, the whole task becomes much, much harder.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Mitsurugi Reiji | Miles Edgeworth/Naruhodou Ryuuichi | Phoenix Wright, Naruhodou Minuki | Trucy Wright & Naruhodou Ryuuichi | Phoenix Wright
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	Phoenix Wright: The Cat Lady

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so the last time I wrote a fanfic was about eight years ago when I was in middle school, so forgive me if I'm a little rusty.
> 
> Anyway, I had this idea floating around in my head for a while, and for once, drawing a picture wasn't enough to weigh it down. I decided to blow the dust off my creative writings skills and give it a go.

Phoenix Wright gazed into the void, and the void gazed back. The void’s bright green eyes were a stark contrast to the inky black hue of its body. They pierced through his soul with an all-consuming gleam. It was a knowing sort of gleam that seemed to say, “ _I know what you did.”_ Time seemed to stand still as it slowly blinked, never once averting it’s gaze. The void sat on the table in front of him, patient as ever. It seemed to be waiting for something. The void flicked its tail, cocked its head, and let out an imploring meow. 

That startled Phoenix out of his haze. He blinked a couple of times, becoming dimly aware of a sharp, hot pain on his index and middle fingers. He looked over to the offending appendages to see that the cigarette he was holding had nearly burned down to nothing, and was now searing into his skin. With a curse, he flung the stub into the ashtray placed on the windowsill next to him. He looked at his hand, surveying the damage. Once the source of the pain was gone, it surprisingly didn’t hurt that bad. He supposed the large amount of wine he drank was doing its job, which was great; he really couldn't be bothered to drag his feet over to the sink to run cool water over the burn.

With that dealt with, Phoenix took a moment to get his bearings and to remind himself of where he was and what he was doing. Right. He was alone in his apartment. He craned his head to look at the clock hung next to the flickering light on the wall and found that time hadn’t been stagnant as he stared into a void. Instead, five minutes had passed while he had a staring contest with his cat. The joints in his left hand had gotten sore from him idly twirling a pen between his fingers, and the cigarette in his right hand... well, needless to say, his right hand was just as sore now. It was a shame, really. He’d only managed to take a single drag off of the cigarette before his brain filled with a mindless fog.

Phoenix reached over to the near-empty cigarette box next to the ashtray, plucked a new cigarette out of it, and placed it between his lips. He took a long drag as soon as it was lit, leaning back as he felt the warm smoke fill his lungs. He peered down at the blank piece of paper in front of him and let out the smoke with a wistful sigh.

_Where do I even begin?_

He had already written a letter to Trucy and left it folded neatly on her pillow. Writing it had been surprisingly easy. All of his thoughts and emotions had come flooding out as soon as he had put pen to paper. He had told her what a wonderful daughter she was, how much he loved her, how proud of her he was, how much he’d miss her, how _truly sorry_ he was. When all was said and done, he had poured his heart and soul onto three pages for her in almost no time at all. He had a lot to say to Trucy.

The others not so much.

He supposed he could just call it quits after Trucy’s letter and not bother writing to the rest of the world, but his letter to Trucy was intended for her eyes only. As long as that was the only letter in existence, Trucy would no doubt be forced to share it. No, he had to write this. The idea of someone other than Trucy reading the sentiments that he laid out for her felt like violation of his -- no -- _their_ privacy.

Even though he had resolved to write the letter, he still had absolutely no idea how to start the damn thing. He picked up the pen again and took another drag off of the cigarette perched between his lips. He began to twirl the pen between his fingers again as he thought of ways to start it.

_How about ‘Dear World’?_

Phoenix wrinkled his nose. That was too cliche. And unnecessary. It’s not like this letter was to anyone in particular, but it wasn’t really for everyone in the entire free world to see, either. He tapped the pen on his chin in consideration. He supposed he could forgo addressing anyone at all and just get right down to what he wanted to say... But what _did_ he want to say? A certain song floated into his mind, and he couldn’t help but consider using some of the lyrics from it.

_Believe it or not, I knew about fear;_

_I knew the way loneliness stung._

He quietly hummed the rest of the verse.

_I hid behind smiles and crazy hot clothes;_

_I learned to kiss boys with my tongue._

He chuckled softly before mentally smacking himself. Now was not the time to be quoting musicals about poorly-handled high school drama. This was the real, adult world that he was living in, and he was dealing with real, adult problems. He was becoming increasingly aware of the slight blur overtaking his vision and realized that he had to stop messing around and get to it. He took one last drag off of his cigarette before balancing it on the edge of the ashtray and hunching over the still-blank piece of paper in front of him.

 _“ Return to the basics”,_ the words of his mentor echoed in his mind. Of course, this wasn’t at all what she was referring to when she told him this. Not even remotely. Nonetheless, the advice was still sound. He would start off with some basic information. Phoenix tightened his grip on the pen and started to write.

> _My name is Phoenix Wright. I live with my daughter in this old two-bedroom flat. I rarely go outside._

Great, off to a good start.

> _Some would say it’s a lonely life, and I guess that’s true, but I don’t like most people’s company. Not lately, anyway. I only trust in Trucy and my cats these days, and I will miss them dearly._

That part about trusting only his daughter and his cats wasn’t necessarily true. At one point he had a handful of close friends that he could trust. Close friends that haven’t talked to him in months. He was sure a couple of them would still make time to help him if he asked, but he was certain it would be out of a sense of moral obligation rather than actual care for him.

> _Trucy is spending the night at a friend’s house tonight._

Phoenix flipped the page over and quickly scribbled an address and phone number on the back before continuing.

> _It’s for the best, really. I don’t think she will understand. At least, not now. I hope she can find it in her heart to forgive me someday._

Phoenix felt his heart clench with guilt. A small part of him hoped that Trucy wouldn’t forgive him, that she would hate him forever for abandoning her. After all, hatred was easier than grief. He could live with Trucy hating him for his actions, but he couldn’t bear the thought of Trucy spending the rest of her life mourning over another loss. Phoenix knew that wouldn’t happen, though. Trucy wasn’t like him. She was too _good_ to hate anybody for very long. He hated to leave her like this, he really did. Deep down, though, he knew she would be better off without him.

Another small meow broke him out of his reverie. He tore his eyes away from his blue-inked scrawl and looked up at his cat, Houdini, who was still calmly sitting in front of him and staring at him. What a good friend.

> _My cats, though… they will understand. They always have. Houdini stays with me ‘till the end. He watches me... I think he knows._

He spared another glance up at Houdini to make sure he was st- holy _shit_ the room was getting blurry.

> _I think he knows that I swallowed a whole bunch of pills earlier. Don’t worry-- they’re legal. My doctor gave them to me for my sleeping problems. But… I’ve taken all I could find in the cupboard. Probably somewhere around thirty of them, I wasn’t really counting. Now the room is spinning around me in a frantic blur... I think I can actually feel my heart slowing down._

It was getting difficult to think. The flickering light was messing with the darkness on the edges of his vision and the clock on the wall was starting to sound much too loud. He needed to wrap this up.

> _Any second now, I will be dead. I feel calm. I’m ready for it. I’ve only got one thing to say now…_

His eyes were getting heavy, and his already less-than-stellar handwriting was becoming near illegible.

> _Don’t die like I did._

Phoenix’s grip on the pen went slack, causing it to clatter across the table. He let out a sigh of relief as he leaned back into his chair. He was relieved that he managed to finish before his time ran out. Finally, he could just sit back and let sleep overcome him.

Phoenix Wright shut his eyes and drifted off into a dark, blank void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come chat with me on Tumblr! @copacetic-crow


End file.
